Community facility at Grand Trunk property could include more potential partners

While the city is finalizing MOUs with the Library and the YMCA they have started a process that could bring in more foundational partners.

Article content The shared YMCA and Stratford Public Library facility slated to be built adjacent to the downtown Grand Trunk site took another small step forward this week with council voting to approve a process that could potentially bring more community partners to the building. Following council’s April decision to commit $15 million to the building, staff having been working to finalize memorandums of understanding with the library and the YMCA as foundational partners. However, according to the report from Emily Robson, the city’s corporate initiatives lead, there is potential to bring in more foundational partners that would provide significant programming, service-delivery or a strategic contribution.

Recommended Videos “We’ve got direction to proceed with the development of this shared community facility, and those include things like what is the facility concept, like how do the partners work together, what kinds of things are going to be delivered in this facility, (and) how do we operate that as a shared endeavor,” she said. “It’s not just a library. It’s not just a YMCA.

It’s not just a city facility. We’re creating something new here where we’re partnering together. “Before we can answer some of those questions and proceed with more detailed analysis of those things, we really need to ask ourselves, this is a shared community facility, but shared among whom?”

To examine any new potential partners, the city has formed a review panel that consists of CEO André Morin, a finance staff member, Mayor Martin Ritsma and representatives from both the YMCA and Library. While three potential designs have been considered for the site, including a renovated and expanded 6,500-square-metre YMCA for $49.9 million, and two off-site concepts – a 9,290-square-metre facility with a $65.4-million price tag and a 6,500-square-metre building at a cost of $47.3 million – staff are currently using a $55 million capital cost estimate. This includes the facility cost, along with other costs like environmental, servicing, furniture, fixtures, equipment and financing.

However, according to the report, the partnership interest process the city has entered into is exploratory and non-binding and is not intended to identify all future users of shared or spaces in the facility. “It doesn’t mean that because we do this process that we automatically have a foundational partner that comes out of that,” Robson said. “We’re not awarding space or funding.

It is really an exploratory process that comes back to council for your consideration.” Beyond identifying more foundational partners, the city is also looking for groups that would be involved on a smaller scale, including facility users that would inform potential activities, accessibility needs and the preferred types of shared space. The city is also looking for community interest holders that provide feedback on community needs and potential impacts.

While these will be determined further into the process, that does not mean one organization is more important than the other, Robson noted. “I want to emphasize that this is not a hierarchy of value,” she said. “We are interested in unique participation across our community in each of these categories.

This is not a competitive ranking process. It’s really just about understanding where and how we can engage with organizations across the community.” The city is taking submissions from potential partners until Aug. 17, and council will be provided an update on Sept. 14.